Overview
This is a concept for The Monster That Eats Words, a children’s book that explores the world of a child struggling with the anxiety disorder Selective Mutism. It is a self-published book with a unique target audience. Books are not commonly advertised through the video format and self publication is becoming more common due to a saturated market. Therefore, the video format can help greatly in promoting a self-published book to its target audience and beyond. Utilizing all of the different channels of social media is also very important to get the book's name out there.
Process
The main concept of the whole project consisted of bringing awareness to a mental health topic that is often misunderstood and/or unknown. After multiple iterations of the original storyboard ideas, the key visuals of the animation became the monster interacting with the words of the book itself. The opening of the book gives a sneak peak into the relationship between the child and their monster that the final story will explore. The main focus was to catch people's attention without giving too much away. The social media posts themselves were centered around being posted during Selective Mutism Awareness month to introduce the book as another way to bring awareness. The animation and the posts establish a strong visual identity for the book, giving it a stronger voice.
Result
The animated ad and the various social media posts will help lead to the successful promotion of the book to its target audience. I learned how to work iteratively between Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects to expand a visual identity across video, digital, and print applications. This project also helped deepen my understanding of how marketing and design work together towards the same goal.